Sushi Success

Since we left Cary we've been on an unsuccessful hunt for a new favorite sushi place that can rival Sushi Thai and isn't an hour away in The City. You'll all recall our first attempt at at-home sushi ended in tears and recriminations when 1) the sticky rice wouldn't stick to anything and 2) my knife kept smashing the rolls instead of cutting them. Well fear not my friends, a recent trip to Meijer revealed a new miracle product: Annie Chun's Rice Bowls!

This model comes with a microwaveable bowl of white rice (also available in brown), 12 nori strips and a wee packet of soy sauce. Per Ben's usual caution, I did a dry run with plain cucumber rolls and learned that 1) the rice is indeed sticky, although it's a little bland and 2) the nori strips are meant for rolling individual pieces, so not very efficient.

The success of this test prompted a full-out sushi-making craving which could only be satisfied by a trip to the Whole Foods South Loop (possibly the most glorious, albeit overpriced, grocery store ever). For 3 sets of rolls, here was my shopping list:

• 2 rice bowls (this time I switched to the ones with only rice)
• a rolling mat
• a package of pre-toasted nori sheets
• sriracha sauce (the smooth type is best, but the kind with the pepper seeds will work, too)
• gari (pickled ginger garnish)
• 2 oz smoked salmon
• 8 oz king crab legs
• 4 large sea scallops
• 1 brick cream cheese
• 1 avocado
• 1 cucumber (the small, extra-crunchy Kirby type work best)
• green onions
• 3 meyer lemons (a cross between a regular lemon and a tangerine)
  

I rounded this out with some supplies from my pantry:

• rice wine vinegar
• sugar
• kosher salt
• panko breadcrumbs
  

First step: make the rice. I microwaved both bowls for 1 minute, then gently folded in a mixture of 2 T rice wine vinegar, 2 tsp sugar and 2 tsp salt (adjust as needed for your taste). All of the rolls have the same basic assembly. Lay a sheet of nori on the mat rough-side up. Get your hands wet, then spread 1/3 of the rice evenly on the nori, going all the way to the side edges but leaving a strip of nori about 1/4 inch from the top and bottom. Lay the vegetable (or cream cheese) in an inch-wide strip about 1/3 of the way from the bottom. Top with meat then sprinkle on garnish. Roll firmly . Wet your slicing knife and cut through the roll with a sawing motion. (See Good Eats episode "Wake up Little Sushi" for a demo). I used a full sheet of nori for each roll and cut it into 8 pieces that were skinny but had a large diameter.

Spicy Crab roll: take all of the meat out of the crab and mix with mayo (1 tsp) and sriracha (a few squirts) until the mixture stays together and is to your taste spice-wise. Peel and seed the cucumber then cut into long strips. Assemble as instructed, using panko (3-4 Tbsp) as the garnish.

Japanese Bagel roll: leave the cream cheese in the foil packet and make 1/2 oz slices (you'll need 3-4 per roll). Cut the smoked salmon (~2oz per roll) into strips. Slice the green onion thinly (I used the greens only from 1 large stalk)

Scallop roll (my own creation): pat the scallops dry and sear in a mix of butter and olive oil for 90 seconds on each side. Rest for a couple minutes then slice cross-ways to get 8 circles (you'll only need about 7 for the roll, so you can enjoy the last one as-is). Cut 1/4 of a avocado into 4 thin slices. Zest the meyer lemons, reserving 1 tsp for the sushi and the rest for the granita.

The full spread.

Spicy crab and Japanese Bagel

Scallop roll.

To use the left-over meyer lemons, I tried to replicate the fruit gelato/sorbet at Henry's. Here's what I came up with. Dissolve 1+1/8 cup sugar in 3/4 cup water over medium heat. Add the lemon zest and simmer for 5 minutes to extract all the lemony goodness. Strain out the zest, then stir in the juice of the 3 lemons. (If you don't have meyer lemons, use 2 tangerines and 1 regular lemon). Transfer the mixture to a metal pan (9x13 works best) and put in the freezer. Stir every 15-20 minutes, will set to the consistency of gelato in about 3 hours.

For all of you NC-expats, I hope this will help you re-create the Sushi Thai/Henry's Gelato experience. For all of you still living near Cary, PLEASE try these places because they're awesome and family-owned (if you don't like sushi, they also have a full menu of Thai noodles, stir fries and soups, so you're bound to find something you like!)